09.28.22 HAB PacketCITY OF BOULDER
HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD MEETING AGENDA
DATE: September 28, 2022
TIME: 6 PM
LOCATION: Zoom Meeting – link posted day of meeting
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL / 6:00 p.m.
2. AGENDA REVIEW
3. WELCOME
a. New Director for Planning & Development Services – Brad Mueller
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. August 24, 2022 – See attached
5. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION / 6:05 p.m.
a. Open comment
6. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD / 6:10 p.m.
a. ADU Discussion Continued (Information Item)
o List of potential topics to recommend Council consider for a HAB decision in October –
See attached
7. MATTERS FROM STAFF / 8:40 p.m.
8. DEBRIEF MEETING AND CALENDAR CHECK / 8:50 p.m.
9. ADJOURNMENT / 9:00 p.m.
Informational Item: Updates and education; no action to be taken
Feedback: Discussion of board processes and items of interest; may result in action
Input: Discussion and comments to shape staff work on housing issues, projects and policies; no action taken
Decision: Vote on board processes, work plan, agenda items, etc.
Recommendation: Vote on the board’s input to city council
For more information, please contact the HAB Secretary at 303.441.3097, or via email at
bollert@bouldercolorado.gov. Board agendas are available online at: https://bouldercolorado.gov/boards-
commissions/housing-advisory-board. Please note agenda item times are approximate.
HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD
Summary Minutes: 08/24/2022
Virtual (Zoom)
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Michael Leccese, Chair
Daniel Teodoru, Vice Chair
Philip Ogren
Julianne Ramsey
Terry Palmos
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
Juliette Boone
STAFF PRESENT:
Jay Sugnet
Tiffany Boller
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL / 6:00 p.m.
2. AGENDA REVIEW
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. June 22, 2022 – Teodoru motions to approve, Palmos seconds, 5-0 approve
minutes
4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION / 6:05 p.m.
• Open comment
Macon Cowles
Jan Burton
Jonathan Singer
Jerry Shapins
Kathleen McCormick
5. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD / 6:40 p.m.
a. Letter to Council urging action on TVAP Phase II and the Planning Reserve
(Decision)
o Review and potentially finalize draft letter from the Chairs –
o Sugnet – Sept 22nd will be Study Session with City Council
regarding TVAP Phase II and the Planning Reserve (both Council
priorities)
o Palmos moves to submit letter to council, Teodoru seconds. 5-0
approved
Discussion around visiting local building projects to discuss suggestions for
council around pedestrian centered communities.
Leccese suggests late September for bike tour of sites
A. ADU Discussion Continued (Input)
a. Teodoru – Would like council to focus on – flexibility, timing, and
simplifying the process. Take away unnecessary restraints and expedite
approvals. Occupancy should somehow focus on local workforce –
somehow create a way to connect ADU renters and providers.
b. Leccese – Draft recommendations prior to next meeting to discuss
a. Remove saturation requirements – Leccese
b. Eliminate parking requirements – Leccese
c. Remove occupancy limits – Leccese
d. Ask for separate review track, separate from regular permitting
process – Palmos
e. Propose preapproved ADU designs – Palmos
f. How prefab/manufactured (fixed foundation) homes could provide
options for ADUs – Ogren
g. Leccese and Teodoru will work to draft recommendations prior to
next meeting
6. MATTERS FROM STAFF / 7:15 p.m. – Jay Sugnet
1. Update on return to in-person board meetings
2. Oct 13 – City Council Study session regarding ADUs
3. Oct 27 – Council update on Affordable housing and middle income /
ownership specifically
1. Down payment assistance program
2. Update to inclusionary housing program
7. DEBRIEF MEETING AND CALENDAR CHECK / 7:21 p.m.
1. Next meeting is September 28, 2022
2. Ogren – would like to create a resource list for information regarding
ADUs
3. Leccese – would like to replace part of a future meeting with a listening
session
8. ADJOURNMENT / 7:26 p.m.
1. Teodoru motions, Palmos seconds, pass 5-0
APPROVED BY
_________________________________
Board Chair
_________________________________
DATE
From:Kurt Nordback
To:Housing Advisory Board Group
Subject:Housing advocacy groups’ recommendations for ADU reform
Date:Friday, September 16, 2022 9:20:21 AM
External Sender
Dear Housing Advisory Board,
We, the undersigned, are members of organizations dedicated to addressing Boulder's
housing crisis: Better Boulder, Boulder Is For People, and Boulder Housing Network. Like
many problems, the housing crisis does not have a single solution. However, we firmly
believe that there are many policy changes that can individually make small contributions to
alleviating the crisis, and if combined, could significantly improve the availability and
affordability of housing in Boulder. A couple of us testified at your August 28 meeting about
ADUs, and Board members invited us to present our ideas about ADUs in writing before
your next meeting.
We have been meeting to discuss one such policy tool: Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).
We chose to tackle ADU policy first because, although it may not be the most impactful of
potential tools, reform of Boulder's ADU rules is on the city staff work plan for this fall, and
because we feel many of the potential reforms are relatively simple code changes.
We have reached consensus on six changes that could be quick to implement, simple, and
require no significant funding. We have also discussed longer-term, more challenging, or
more costly changes, and we may be bringing some of those forward in the future. But for
now, these are the quick-fix code and policy changes we recommend:
1. Eliminate saturation limits.
Current rules limit the fraction of properties with ADUs within a given area. For instance, in
the city's largest residential zone district, RL-1, only 20% of properties within a 300-foot
radius are allowed to have ADUs.
A saturation limit was put in place originally to alleviate fears of an overabundance of
ADUs. The limit was raised as part of the 2019 ADU code revisions, but it remains an
obstacle to creating more ADUs in some areas of town, particularly since nonconforming
properties such as duplexes are also included in the calculation. Perhaps just as important,
it is an opaque and confusing metric that may deter would-be ADU developers, and it slows
the ADU permitting process. It's impractical for a property owner to determine on their own
whether their property meets the limits. Only city staff have the data and tools to do the
calculation, and it must be done by hand (the city's GIS software can't do it automatically).
Last and perhaps least, this provision significantly complicates the ADU code in the Boulder
Revised Code.
2. Eliminate parking requirements for an ADU, or triggered by ADU construction.
The ADU rules currently require one off-street parking space for a market-rate ADU.
Moreover, they require that in order to build a market-rate ADU on a parcel that does not
have the required one off-street space for the primary house, two parking spaces (one for
the house and one for the ADU) must be provided.
The parking requirement is a significant impediment on constrained lots, or those with
limited street access. It is also contrary to Boulder's efforts to reduce incentives for motor
vehicles and to create a less car-dependent urban form. And private land that is valuable
for environmental, social, and health purposes — for trees, gardens, recreation, gathering,
and open space — should not be required to be paved to park vehicles.
3. Eliminate lot-size minimum for ADUs.
Current rules do not allow an ADU on any lot smaller than 5,000 square feet. While such
lots are fairly rare in Boulder, this restriction seems unnecessary and arbitrary.
4. Increase ADU size limits.
The following table shows the current ADU size limits:
Market-rate Affordable
Attached 1/3 dwelling size or 1000 sq ft,
whichever is less
½ dwelling size or 1000 sq ft,
whichever is less
Detached 550 sq ft 800 sq ft
We recommend increasing the size limits so that the square footage of the ADU can be half
the area of the principal structure, even for market rate ADUs.. This allows a property
owner to create an ADU on one floor of a house without having to wall off a portion of that
floor in order to meet the limitations noted above. We also suggest increasing the detached
ADU size limits to 650 square feer (market-rate) and 900 square feet (affordable), to allow
them to be more suitable for families. Alternatively or in addition, the size-limit exception
process could be changed from one requiring a hearing at BOZA (Board of Zoning
Adjustment) to a simpler administrative process.
5. Allow one attached and one detached, or two detached, ADUs per parcel.
The existing rules do not explicitly limit a property to a single ADU, though some may argue
that that is implied.
Based on a suggestion from City Council, we recommend explicitly allowing one attached
and one detached ADU, or two attached ADUs, per parcel. Many property owners are not
able to or interested in providing an ADU. Allowing those who are able and interested to
create a second ADU would help to meet our housing needs.
6. Allow ADU permitting before or at the same time as house permitting.
Although not specified so in the city code, the administrative convention has been to only
allow an ADU application for parcels where a primary house exists or construction permits
have been issued.
This results in an inefficient and unduly costly process when attempting to build a house
and ADU at the same time. It requires an applicant to submit sequentially for the house and
ADU permits, and given the protracted time period for issuance of the permits, it means that
construction also happens sequentially. Therefore crews for excavation, foundation,
framing, etc. do their work for the house, and then must return -- months later -- to do
similar work for the ADU. With delayed permitting, rising costs, and supply-chain issues for
materials and construction, the current system can lead to canceling plans for an ADU.
It also means that an owner of any empty lot who wishes to build and perhaps live in an
ADU first, before building the house, is not allowed to do so. This administrative restriction
seems unnecessary and counterproductive to easing our housing crisis.
Thank you for considering our suggestions, and thank you for your service to our
community on HAB.
Eric Budd
Jan Burton
Jake Brady
Ed Byrne
Chelsea Castellano
Macon Cowles
Rosie Fivian
Lisa Wade
Kathleen McCormick
Kurt Nordback